


No Vacancy

by AnathemaAuthoress



Category: IT - Stephen King
Genre: (kinda), A little Ben/Bev, Angst, Based on movie storyline but includes spoilers for the book, Character Development, Eddie Kaspbrak Lives, F/M, Fix-It of Sorts, Hurt/Comfort, IT isn't over, M/M, Plot, Prophetic Dreams, Reddie, Resurrection, Slow Burn, but this is mostly, maybe some Mike/Bill later, new villains
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-18
Updated: 2019-09-17
Packaged: 2020-10-20 23:02:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20683385
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnathemaAuthoress/pseuds/AnathemaAuthoress
Summary: It's over now, or truly should be. All they want is to move on, but there is something there, a twinging sense of unfinished business that rattles around Eddie's mind like a bag of loose marbles. He just wants to make it stop, but what will that take? In any case, Richie is willing to help._____Takes place after It: Chapter Two and contains spoilers for both films and the book. What would happen if Eddie came back before the others had a chance to miss him? And what if there was something about It they didn't know?





	No Vacancy

“If heaven and hell decide that they both are satisfied

And illuminate the nos on their vacancy signs

If there's no one beside you when your soul embarks

Then I'll follow you into the dark” -Death Cab for Cutie

Bill watched the house on Neibolt street crumble, watched maligned and splintered beams of wood–once ombre but now black from mold and rot and the heinous corrosion of evil that it had harbored–as they snapped like licorice whips before going down. They sunk into the earth that was soft like quicksand, making it seem almost as though nothing had ever been there at all. As if It had never been there at all. 

Now, like so many precious and precarious things, it and It existed only in the memories. Horrible stains, but beautiful too like barbed wire running from one end of their lives to the next, dangerous and bleak, yet protecting and holding in the garden of all the good things. 

Bill was transfixed as he watched the proof fade, as he bared witness to the tangible erasing. As the _ then _ became the _ now _ . And it was Bill alone that watched, because the others were shuddering, collapsing upon each other, eyes scrabbling between the road to either side, to the dirt and grime and _real_ that tainted their skin, and to the hazy fear giving way to relief and pain reflected in each other’s eyes.

So it was Bill alone that saw him first, and at first he did not believe. He had thought himself numb, no longer able to feel fear or surprise or anything truly. But as those arms reached up, muddied and frail like zombie hands, like _Dawn of the Dead_ when groping fingers tried to grip past the doorframe, Bill felt everything hot and new. Fear, surprise. Then, _ hope _.

***

Eddie had watched through blearing vision as It had rescinded back, as It had stumbled out of sight beyond stalagmites that arched up like claws, or like the fractured edges of a cracked egg shell. He found it difficult to concentrate, but that was typical of blood loss he figured.

_ Mind yourself, Eddie, _ he could remember his mother saying. _ Mind yourself or you’ll get hurt. It isn’t safe to play out there with those kids Eddie, or you’ll get hurt something terrible. _

_ Fuck you, ma, _ he thought with unbridled satisfaction. Because yes, he was going to die, yes, his vision was slipping in and out like the spinning wheel of color through a kaleidoscope, but yes, oh yes, hadn’t it been fun up til then? 

Despite this, Eddie was keenly aware when Richie left his side. _ Don’t go _ , he had tried to call. _ They can finish it without you, just stay with me. Please Richie, just one minute more! _

But his mouth could no longer shape words and in the end it was alright, because the panic got washed out as quickly as it had come. He'd felt that sense of floating again. _ We all float down here. _ No. Not so sad, not so violent.

Peaceful. Eddie felt almost serene and in that moment all he could see were lights. Not the Dead Lights, but stars. Twinkling and gentle, like water dripping off a tortoise's shell. Just beyond that, a welcoming darkness.

He heard a voice, as roaring and calming as the ocean. Eddie did not hear it well, could not make out the words then, and even if he had would not have recalled them later. But they came to him the same.

“This is not the end.”

And suddenly the darkness was not so comforting. It was crushing, smothering his lungs and Eddie needed his aspirator or some goddamn CPR or _ anything _. Anything to ease the burn, to help him fill his lungs. His arms scrabbled and he felt like he was moving through a solid object, or trying to swim through tar. He didn’t think his efforts would have any effect, but he did rise. 

He moved up and up, as if pushed from below and at last he broke the surface with his fingers, could feel the cool afternoon air, almost mockingly mundane. 

Then he surfaced, gasping for air. The push ceased and he was on his own, groping for grass and his wits all at once.

Beside him, a leisurely turtle sauntered by, attracted to the insects churned up from the upheaved soil. Eddie nearly laughed at the ridiculousness of it, of how profanely mediocre it seemed in the wake of such tangible despair.

Laughing, though, was deeply unwise as his chest was still compressed, still kept tight in the earth like a vice. Luckily, he didn’t suffer much longer. Bill’s voice cut through the ringing in Eddie’s ears he hadn’t known was there.

“Eddie! Jesus Christ, guys, Eddie’s alive!”

**Author's Note:**

> I just finished rereading the novel and saw Chapter Two the other day. I loved it so much! I thought the ending was better than the book's, but saw the potential for some unused elements and got inspired to continue the story with one little modification (sweet Eds). I'll try to update when I can! Let me know what you think in the comments!


End file.
